


A Healing Heart

by Koayyy



Series: White, Blank Paradise [6]
Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Future Fic, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Nightmares, Soul-Searching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 18:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15249102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koayyy/pseuds/Koayyy
Summary: Many, many years after the Grandcypher crew pass away, the primals still live on. Sandalphon is convinced to do some soul-searching, and backtracking proves to be... 'beneficial', in more ways than one.





	A Healing Heart

**Author's Note:**

> You can kinda see where my quality dropped into the void but I really wanted to get this out www There's a lot of mentioned characters, but I didn't know how to tag them 
> 
> Tfw dead bf primals deserve happiness, let them be Happy

It’s been exactly been three hundred and fifty-five years since the last members of the legendary Grandcypher crew passed away. Or, well, the mortal members. If you included the primal beasts, then the crew would never succumb to mere history.

Noa went back to Golonzo Island with the precious memories of his time with Rackam. Alexiel returned to Uriel’s side, having loosened up a little, to the delight of Uriel. Yggdrasil and Rosetta returned to Lumacie together, content to just watch the rest of the world go by. Vira had returned to the Academy at Albion, committed to passing her knowledge along with the rest of her lengthened life. Azazel had a good time on the ship despite his complaints, and seems content to enjoy the rare freedom he now possesses.

Lucio had spent most of his time in the Crimson Horizon with his duty before joining the crew, and now he’s spending it traveling the skies without a doubt in his mind. Zooey had grown fond of mortals, especially the members of the Divine Generals, and is planning to spend her time being a priestess in place of them.

Sandalphon himself is, well, he had planned to stay in Canaan and watch the process of evolution go by in the absence of the Singularity. But, Zooey and Lucio had pushed the right buttons and now he’s on a journey of his own.

(He’s way too sentimental. Is that why Lucifer lik- _loved_ him? Because he was created with a true heart?)

He’s still not very willing to pull out the Supreme Primarch’s wings for every little thing, so he’s flying on his own brown and white wings. He feels a tailwind blowing behind him, and he wonders how Raphael is doing. The four are keeping the elements stable, not to mention all their other duties. Keeping the Ether in check is like breathing to Sandalphon, so he doesn’t seem to have much to do other than watch.

(Is this what loneliness felt like? Is this what was plaguing Lucifer all those times?)

It’s not long before he sees the island in the distance. It’s a small island that has suffered greatly in the past. He still remembers Djeeta talking about it the moment they got back on the ship, probably to battle the down mood of the rest that came back.

She had said Perfetto Island was known for the art that is produced there, in respect for the primal beast that protects them. But a certain incident caused the primal beast to go into slumber for at least a few hundred years. The minstrel boy -Elta- seemed especially upset about the fact.

Sandalphon had decided to go there to at least check on the state of the primal, if nothing else. He doesn’t know how long to stay or where else to go after this, but he’s not in a hurry. He has time.

(Too much of it.)

As he gets closer to the island, he can feel a distinct energy coming from the land. He’s not sure how to describe it, but it feels like a song, maybe? It seems to be coming from the protection, at least. The primal beast seems to be awake and moving about in town, from what he can sense.

Sandalphon pulls his hood up and takes his time walking to the large town. He enters it without trouble, and the first thing that catches his eye is the amount of paintings decorating the town, painting it in a multitude of colors. Although some of the paintings look slightly dull to him.

He goes deeper into town and is greeted by a large statue in the plaza. It’s a statue of a man wearing a large hat and loose clothing decorated with a cape, sitting and playing an instrument Sandalphon can’t name. He walks closer and reads the words etched into the plate of stone.

‘In loving name of the guardian that watches over us, and protected us when times were down.

Arte.’

He registers the name and turns to survey the other parts of town when he hears a shout that stops him.

“Wait! You over there!” a man shouts. Sandalphon turns to see the exact primal the statue was based of. He waits as the man runs over to him, and takes a step back when the distance between them shortens so much to the point that Sandalphon notices how the man is slightly taller than him.

The man doesn’t seem to notice, busy trying to rub paint off his cheek and talk at the same time.

“You’re a primal beast, right?” the man asks. “It’s the first time I’ve met another primal like myself.”

Sandalphon isn’t surprised in the least that he was identified so quickly. He hid his primal presence only so the people of the island wouldn’t fear him. The primal beast coming to him was just an extra bonus.

“You’re Arte, I assume?” he asks back, a hand settling on his hip. The man gapes his mouth in the shape of a little circle for a second before closing it.

“Yes, but while I’m like this, please call me Caro.” Caro says, his smile incredibly bright. His name rings a bell.

“Ah, you’re the one Elta talked about all those times.” Sandalphon lets it slip out of his mouth as he thinks of it. Caro seems to brighten even more at the name, if that was possible.

“You’ve met Elta?” Caro asks immediately and with a tone of joy in his voice. Sandalphon can’t understand his joy at the mention of a mortal long since passed away, but he keeps the thought to himself.

“Of course, he was on the Grandcypher after all.” he says with a sense of resignation leaking into his voice. It was impossible to _not_ get to know the crewmembers with how loud and nosy they were. Caro seems to freeze.

“You were a part of that crew?” he asks, the awe clear on his face, but there’s something else hidden in it that Sandalphon can’t place. It’s his turn to pause in his tracks when the slight unease pricking him turns unbearable.

“Can we... perhaps take this somewhere else?” he says as politely as he can manage, with the rest of the town’s gaze pointed at the two of them. He isn’t aware of it, but his hand reaches to clutch the fabric of his pulled up hood in nervousness.

“Oh, of course. Follow me.” Caro seems to finally notice his discomfort and says, turning to lead him somewhere. Sandalphon can only follow at a comfortable pace behind.

“By the way, what do you prefer to be called?” Caro asks, and Sandalphon finally notices that he hasn’t even given his name. Great going, ‘Supreme Primarch’.

A moment of silence passes as he considers using another name. But Caro seems nice, from his own impression and what he’s heard from Elta, so he scraps the idea. Maybe another time.

“Sandalphon is fine.” he says, and Caro nods in return. They reach a house that seems a bit unlike the rest, with both the amount of color on it and the magic flowing from it. Caro opens the door for him and he nods as he steps inside, and he’s greeted by a variety of art materials in the large room. From a half finished canvas to the different types of paint neatly organized on countless shelves.

The only thing he’s sure of is that he doesn’t know even a quarter of what these things are for.

“I don’t have guests often, so I’m sorry if the place is messy, but please make yourself at home!” Caro says as he closes the door and places his hat on a wooden structure that hangs the hat neatly. Sandalphon follows by putting his hood back down and running a hand through his hair to tame it just to look polite.

He doesn’t know what to do with himself, so he stays in place as Caro walks past him towards what Sandalphon can only assume to be the kitchen.

“This might get long, so what would you like to drink?” Caro says, stopping a pace away from the other room.

“Coffee, if you have it.” Sandalphon says it with minimal thought.

“Okay.” Caro replies and gestures to the table and chairs for dining beside him, before disappearing into the kitchen. Sandalphon sits down and manages to ignore the sounds in the kitchen as he takes a good look around the room.

The dining table is placed in the long living room, along with the art materials and tools. Countless paintings decorate the space on the floor and the walls. Although, the paintings on the floor that have some magic flowing in them seem more dull in color compared to the ones hung up on the walls. His eyes linger on one particular painting, taking the image in. It’s a gold and blue object, but he blinks and it becomes white and blue. He can’t take his eyes away when the colors start to blend-

He tears his eyes away at the sound of Caro calling his name.

“Sandalphon?” Caro says again, not as loud as before. Sandalphon closes his eyes and takes a breath of air as he composes himself. He doesn’t know what just happened, but he instinctively grabs the broken pieces of his heart and messily pushes them back together.

He opens his mouth and almost says something wrong, so he closes then opens it to try again.

“It’s nothing.” he says simply, finally registering the cup of steaming coffee placed in front of him. Across the table is a cup of equally steaming tea, which is where Caro takes a seat. The two take sips of their drinks in silence for a moment, but the tension in the air suggests that what happened hasn’t been dropped yet.

“I don’t think I’ve said this, but my power affects hearts,” Caro says, then pauses for a second. “The image of my paintings changes to match the heart of the viewer.”

Sandalphon merely stares into the cup of coffee and doesn’t reply, so Caro continues.

“I’m sorry if it’s rude of me, but what did you see?” he says, lowering his voice. Sandalphon doesn’t know what face he’s making right now, but whatever it looks like, it must be alarming to Caro for him to react with a question like this.

He lifts his gaze and meets Caro’s serious light yellow colored eyes. To a primal that affects hearts, he might as well be an open book, no matter how much he tried to hide himself. But still.

Sandalphon gently shakes his head and hopes it’s enough of a reply. Fortunately, it is. Caro leans back into his seat and the serious look disappears from his face and instead is replaced with a small smile.  
  
_You can tell me when you want to._ goes unvoiced, but gets through to Sandalphon all the same.

“Now then, where were we?” Caro shifts the topic with a hint of excitement in his voice. Sandalphon manages to gather himself to hide behind a sense of dullness again and replies.

“I was a member of the Grandcypher crew.” Sandalphon says, keeping his emotions out of his tone. Caro perks up with a finger pointed up in the air.

“Ah, right. I only know a part of their story, so do you mind continuing it?” Caro says, his voice filled with melancholy, excitement, and maybe a hint of guilt. Sandalphon thinks back to the time they left Perfetto Island, and takes a deep breath before opening his mouth.

For the next unknown period of time, the little wooden house belonging to the primal beast of art is enveloped in bittersweet memories.

 

* * *

 

Silence is all that is left after Sandalphon finishes his story, their drinks were gone a long time ago in the middle of it, but Caro didn’t have the heart to interrupt to go refill them. Besides, suddenly breaking the chain of memories just felt cruel. But Caro couldn’t help but notice how detached Sandalphon sounded during all of it. He may be scatterbrained, but when he notices something of the heart, it’s hard for him to ignore.

“Um, Sandalphon?” Caro can’t stop from hesitating as he calls out. He really doesn’t know how to get Sandalphon to open up to him without forcing him, but he can’t bear to see how he continues to cause his own heart to bleed. Sandalphon may be a primal beast that’s leagues stronger than him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need help.

Sandalphon looks up from staring at his palms. The only way Caro can describe the look in his eyes is that they’re full of doubt. Doubt of himself or the world, it’s hard to tell. Caro gives a little smile as he speaks.

“You talked a lot about the other crewmembers, but not so much of yourself.” he points out, his hands clutched together and resting on the table. He knows Sandalphon is a primarch and one of the original primal beasts, (so he’s kind of like his ancestor!) but not much else. The look in Sandalphon’s eyes suggests that he expected this coming one way or another.

“And what of it?” Sandalphon asks, a hint of a bite in his tone, which Caro assumes is most likely self-defense. Caro isn’t known to choose his words so carefully, but he tries.

“You’re a good pers- wait no, a good primal beast. You care so much about everyone, but what about yourself?” Caro has to pause for a moment, is this what Elta felt when he saw him sacrificing himself for the villagers so many years ago? “I don’t know much about you, and I think only the crewmembers _truly_ know you, but I want to help, Sandalphon.”

He finishes his words and waits patiently for a reply. Sandalphon’s gaze seems to try and stare through him, but unfortunately for him, Caro’s the primal beast that can affect the heart here. Caro waits for a few more beats, until Sandalphon lets out a little sigh.

“How can you help me in the first place? I’m the stronger primal here.” Sandalphon says, his hand waving in the air as if dismissing his offer. It only serves to fuel Caro’s determination to help even more.

“If you wish to talk about anything, I’ll listen.” Caro closes his mouth, but then his mind decides that he wasn’t done. “I didn’t have someone to talk to about my problems for a long time, but the Grandcypher crew came and I felt really relieved when I could talk to them, so-, er...” his train of thought falls short, his mouth trying to go on but without anything proper to say, he dissolves into mumbles.

Sandalphon doesn’t make a sound, but Caro notices his stare felt like it wasn’t there. Caro didn’t say anything wrong, did he...?

It takes a moment before Sandalphon seems to snap out of it, startling himself and sitting up straight in response. Caro’s remaining memories of the crew are vague, but their caring nature is hard to forget. He only realizes now that he might’ve reminded Sandalphon of times long gone, and splutters an apology.

“I’m-, I’m sorry if I reminded you of anything bad!” Caro says, waving his hands in genuine sorry. Sandalphon gives him a slow blink reminiscent of a cat, looking away from Caro after it.

“It’s fine.” he mutters, hiding his hands under the table. Caro watches as he refuses to meet his gaze, and Caro drops his own hands back onto his lap. His hand grips and fiddles with his belt in thought. If Sandalphon refuses to speak about it, then what if he...

“As a thank-you for talking about your journey, how about I teach you how to paint?” Caro asks, leaning forward in his seat with a smile on his face. It seems to catch Sandalphon off guard, from his widened eyes.

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary...” Sandalphon’s sentence trails off with signs of hesitance, and Caro chases after it.

“I insist.” he says with excitement at the prospect of teaching another primal the joys of expression, and gets up from his seat without waiting for a reply. He places the half finished canvas down onto the floor and puts a new untouched canvas on the wooden stand. He hears a little sigh and the sound of heels against wooden floor as he prepares the necessary materials.

He turns back around to Sandalphon standing a little bit too far away, his hands crossed on his chest. Caro gestures for him to come closer, and he does. Caro gives him a final little push to get him in front of the canvas, and gingerly hands him the palette with various colors and a medium sized brush.

Sandalphon unfolds his hands and takes it, palette in his left while the brush is gripped in his right, and turns to the canvas.

He stares at it for a good moment before turning to Caro for help. Caro can’t help the little giggle that escapes him at the sight.

“Well, how about we start simple?” Caro says. “Think of an object and how it looks like, then try to paint it onto the canvas.” he gestures to his head and then gesturing to the canvas in a circle motion. Sandalphon’s eyes follow his hands, then dives into thought.

It takes another while before he dabs paint onto the brush and starts with a shaky little stroke. Caro decides to leave him to it and pull out another wooden stand to finish his own half finished painting. He hums as he focuses on painting, but the glances thrown his way don’t go unnoticed.

Caro is the first one to finish, and stops humming as he takes a step back to take a good look at the finished product. The painting is a simple one, a sunset frozen in time on the canvas with hints of little birds flying towards the sun.

He goes to put on some finishing touches when he turns to see how Sandalphon’s doing, he sees him paused with his brush in the air. Caro pauses when he notices that Sandalphon is actually looking at his sunset painting.

“As expected of the primal beast of art.” Sandalphon says, in a tone so quiet Caro can’t make out the emotions behind it, but he understands when he looks at Sandalphon’s painting.

On the canvas is a small tree with thin branches and trunk, standing on a nonexistent ground. The shape of the leaves are all in one color, and the trunk and branches lack lines to detail it, but the whole tree feels so specific, it’s probably something precious to Sandalphon. The image feels simple yet filled with a certain meaning, it makes Caro smile.

“Anyone would be good at painting if they had a hundreds of years to practice.” he says as he adds a little bit more yellow to the parts of the sky closer to the sun on his own canvas.

“... I guess that’s true.” Sandalphon says, his gaze focuses on Caro’s small and tidy brush strokes.

When Caro was finished with his sunset, he looks to see Sandalphon concentrated on trying to paint the sky around his little tree. His face is very close to the painted canvas, so Caro reaches out, intending to pull Sandalphon back a little.

When his hand lands on the intended shoulder, Sandalphon startles and jumps back, but not before jerking his brush the wrong way.

The paint from the brush ends up on Sandalphon’s face, leaving a spot of light blue on his cheek. Caro bursts out giggling while Sandalphon is looking at him with a disapproving look on his face.

“Don’t suddenly touch me.” Sandalphon says as he hovers his hand above the light blue spot on his cheek, probably hesitant of wiping it on his glove. Caro stops giggling and hands him a cloth specifically for wiping paint off. He wipes it off in one and hands it back. Caro leaves it hanging on the wooden stand Sandalphon is using, just in case.

“Sorry, you were just a bit too close to the canvas.” Caro says and goes to move his finished painting to dry under the sun by the window.

He comes back to see the finished product. The little tree now has red fruits painted on, the green paint blending with the red to create a strange but unique color. The blue sky that surrounds the tree is in one simple tone, but the fluffy-looking clouds add a lot to it. Other than the tree, he can see Sandalphon try to create the image that the tree was sitting on a hill with the light green surrounding it, albeit it’s clear Sandalphon didn’t know how to paint perspectives well.

It’s not that good, but it’s good for a first try. Sandalphon didn’t need much guidance either, it was like he learned by watching and imitating. Caro felt proud that Sandalphon’s first painting came out well, but also a bit frustrated that he didn’t actually get to teach much. He swallows the frustration he held at himself and instead decides to get the positives out of his mouth.

“It’s really good for a first try,” Caro says, and Sandalphon freezes in place. “Certainly better than my first, at least.” he adds with a little nervous laugh.

The surprise slowly seeps out of Sandalphon, and he waits for him to talk. It takes a little moment.

“I... thank you.” Sandalphon says, very quietly. He opens his mouth to say something else, but closes it when nothing comes out. Caro blinks and tilts his head.

“This... It’s a coffee tree. The Grandcypher crew had helped me find it.” Sandalphon suddenly says as if forcing it out. Caro nods to try and encourage him to go on.

“ _He_ was the first one to discover coffee, and wanted to see how it would evolve, so he taught the skydwellers how to harvest and brew it. The first ever coffee tree sat on a little hill, and it’s the first thing that came to mind that could maybe fit on a canvas, so...” his thoughts seem to stop there, but Caro nods in understanding.

“You don’t have to justify your choice, plus, anything can fit in a canvas. As long as you want to make it, you’ll find a way to get it down on paper.” Caro says, smiling as he also takes the canvas to the sunny spot right beside his own painting. Sandalphon watches him take it and merely stands in place.

“But... thank you for sharing.” Caro says as he stands back up. From what he can read of Sandalphon, he’s not the type to share things about himself easily. Which is why it makes Caro so happy to be one of the people (primals?) to be trusted by him.

Sandalphon gives him a little nod and breaks eye contact by looking at his moving fingers. Caro waits patiently for whatever Sandalphon is doing, taking a few steps to close the too large distance between them.

Sandalphon mutters something Caro doesn’t catch, and it makes him take another step.

“I... I can sing, actually...” Sandalphon says, looking away as red appears on his cheeks. Caro absolutely beams at him.

“What do you sing usually? Can you try right now?” Caro asks, letting the excitement course through his entire body. Sandalphon turns even redder and starts to rub the edge of his hood under his fingers.

“I just tried it once or twice... but, if you insist.”

 

* * *

 

Today had gone well. After Sandalphon sung, Caro had taught him some of the more advanced things in music, and the flow of time had slipped from their minds. When they noticed, it was well into the night with the moon glowing brightly from the window. Caro’s house had an extra room, so he had lent it for Sandalphon to stay, at least for the night.

Now it was time to sleep. Caro may have spent the last few hundred years sleeping to recover his strength, but that doesn’t mean he can forgo a normal sleep schedule. He closes his eyes and drifts to sleep in only a few minutes.

He doesn’t know how long he sleeps, but he wakes up to unusual sounds coming from the room Sandalphon is staying in.

Caro gets up from his bed as quietly as he can, and tiptoes his way to Sandalphon’s room. He opens the door quietly, leaving it open as he goes to the bedside. He stands in place as he watches Sandalphon mumble and whimper with a hand twisting the blanket that’s covering him.

Sandalphon’s trapped in a nightmare.

He’s never had to do this before, but he’s watched skydwellers enough to know what to do, at least. Caro grabs Sandalphon’s shoulder and gently but firmly shakes him as he calls out.

“Sandalphon.” another mumble too quiet to make out is all that greets him.

“Sandalphon.” he says again, shaking harder. The hand clutching the blanket twists even more.

“Sandalphon!” he raises his voice for the first time since his slumber. It proves to be effective as Sandalphon snaps his eyes open and doesn’t move for a good few seconds. Caro takes back his hand and gives a little smile despite his own exhaustion.

“Are you okay?” he whispers, taking a seat on the bed when Sandalphon sits up.

Sandalphon doesn’t answer him for a moment, his teeth clenching as he looks at his trembling hands. Caro taps into his power to take a glance at Sandalphon’s heart, and has to try his best to not react to the split second image he was given.

It’s a hard image to describe, the heart looking like it’ll burst at any moment, its pieces messily held together with sorrow dripping from the cracks.

It’s the heart of someone trying to pretend everything’s all right when it’ll never be right again and it hasn’t been for a long time.

“Sandalphon?” Caro whispers as he sees Sandalphon’s shoulders start to shake. Droplets soon begin to stain the blanket.

Ah, the pieces must’ve come off.

Caro thinks hard on what he can do while Sandalphon keeps his head down. He decides on a course of action, so he waits until Sandalphon has run out of tears before singing a quiet, fleeting melody.

He doesn’t know if it’s because of his power, but it causes Sandalphon to snap his gaze up, his expression filled with emotions that are in conflict each other. When he finishes, he watches as a small smile appears on Sandalphon’s face.

Caro smiles back upon seeing the pieces slot back into their proper places. The cracks are still there, but in the dark of night, he lets himself enjoy the feeling of being useful to someone.

He’ll strive to feel this feeling in the morning, too.

 

* * *

 

“Are you going to remain on this island?” Sandalphon asks suddenly, making Caro pause in sipping his tea.

Sandalphon himself puts his coffee down as he considers an idea. He wouldn’t mind, but the choice is really up to the primal with the pact here. They’ve been talking about Sandalphon’s future plans for quite a while, after all.

“I’ve dreamed of traveling, but I can’t leave the people on this island.” Caro says after a moment of thought with a smile on his face.

Sandalphon decides it’s whatever and fires the suggestion into the wind.

“I could enhance your protection so it remains even after your pact with the island is severed, if you’d like.” he says, watching as Caro’s face changed from surprise to hope.

“Re- really?” Caro exclaims, still in disbelief. Sandalphon chuckles.

“Don’t underestimate a primarch.” Sandalphon says and sips on his coffee. Caro is filled with joy when he abruptly freezes.

“But, that means you have to fight me, right? To break the pact?” Caro says, unsure in his choice. Sandalphon gives him a look.

“You can just stand there and let me attack if it bothers you that much.” he says, keeping his eye on Caro. The Supreme Primarch’s powers may be fully healed, but his measly two wings should be enough to match a primal beast of this level.

“I’ll make sure to do that.” Caro says, Sandalphon having to process it twice to get it through his brain. That was intended to be an empty suggestion, but he’ll take what he can get.

They do it in the forest, away from the village. As he promised, the pact is broken, but he can still sense the protection around the island. Caro practically bounces in delight while they make their way back to the house.

It takes two days for Caro to say goodbye to everyone on the island and to gather some of his important supplies in a bag. They are walking to the airship that’s going to fly them to one of the more populated islands when a small voice stops them.

“Caro-niisan!” the girl shouts as she runs over to Caro. Caro crouches down to meet the girl’s height. He doesn’t catch the conversation, but he certainly sees the small painting in Caro’s hands. He lets the smirk grace his lips and looks at the airship waiting to take off.

“Are you ready?” he asks, a hand on his hip as he turns to Caro.

“Yes, let’s go!” Caro exclaims in delight and walks beside him.

Sandalphon looks up at the great blue sky, and he can’t see a rain cloud in sight.

(They gain new friends, and eventually meet the people they both dearly miss, but that’s a story for another time.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Koayyy279) if anyone wants to yell at me or just talk!!!


End file.
